Travel
Train tickets, maps, and food stalls in mainland cities assume Mandarin. English exists in international hotels and some metros; it is thin in second-tier cities.
Aprender chino
Chino mandarín desde 你好: caracteres, pinyin y palabras habladas.
- Speakers
- Mandarin: about 1.2 billion, mostly first-language
- Where it sits
- Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore; other Chinese languages elsewhere
- In the app
- Simplified characters, pinyin, zh-CN audio
Dónde se usa
The course is Mandarin (Putonghua), the national spoken standard of the People's Republic of China and the Mandarin used in Taiwan and Singapore. It is not Cantonese, Shanghainese, or Hokkien — those are separate Chinese languages that share characters more than they share speech. Simplified characters are the mainland and Singapore norm; Taiwan and Hong Kong use traditional characters. Hong Kong's street language is Cantonese. In Singapore, Mandarin is one of four official languages next to English, Malay, and Tamil. You will use Mandarin in mainland cities. You will not automatically follow a Cantonese conversation in Guangzhou or Hong Kong.
- China (mainland)Mandarin is the national standard. Cities still have local languages at home.
- TaiwanMandarin (Guoyu) is the public language. Traditional characters. Taiwanese Hokkien is widely spoken too.
- SingaporeOne of four official languages. English is the language of most schools; Mandarin is common in family and heritage settings.
- MalaysiaLarge Chinese-speaking communities. Mandarin in schools for many; other Chinese languages at home.
- Hong KongCantonese is the street language. Mandarin is understood more than it used to be, not the default.
Para qué sirve
Work
Manufacturing, supply chains, and a growing number of firms that expect spoken Mandarin, not only an interpreter.
The writing system
Characters plus pinyin. Pinyin gets you pronunciation; characters get you the city.
Ciudades donde de verdad lo usarás
Start with cities where Putonghua is what strangers will use. Local languages do not vanish; they sit at home and in older markets.
Beijing
China
The accent textbooks aim at. Hutongs, subway lines, a lot of putonghua in public.
Shanghai
China
Business city. Shanghainese at home for many; Mandarin in shops and offices.
Shenzhen
China
New city, migrants from everywhere. Mandarin is the shared language.
Chengdu
China
Southwest. Sichuanese colour in the voice; written language is still standard Mandarin.
Hangzhou
China
East China, lakes and tech. Manageable size for a first longer stay.
Xi'an
China
Older capital, heavier tourist circuit, still Mandarin on the signs.
Taipei
Taiwan
Traditional characters, Guoyu in public. Night markets will test listening more than pinyin drills.
Singapore
Singapore
English on the MRT. Mandarin in many family settings and on some signs. A mixed city, not a Mandarin-only one.
Qué variedad lee la app
Audio is zh-CN: mainland Mandarin with simplified characters and pinyin. We do not claim HSK exam prep. Cantonese is not in the app.
Para quién
Si el chino no es tu lengua materna. No afirmamos preparación HSK.
En la app
Eliges chino como idioma de aprendizaje. La pronunciación es zh-CN. Las lecciones crecen por MCER; esta página no inventa una lista de caracteres.
Algunas palabras
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 你好 | Nǐ hǎo | Hello |
| 我叫... | Wǒ jiào... | My name is... |
| 你好吗？ | Nǐ hǎo ma? | How are you? |
| 很高兴认识你 | Hěn gāoxìng rènshí nǐ | Nice to meet you |
